Well that works out to "about" $9 bd/ft, not including rather a bit of fiddly labour to edge glue, joint and thickness plane/sand to uniform finished construction dimension
Do the math on how many board feet involved in some of these larger designs, and the quantities can get a bit daunting.
A 4x8 sheet of nominal 3/4" plywood is 24 bd ft - so even at $120 for a 4x8ft sheet ApplePly, that's only $5 bd/ft . Sure you can theoretically get better yield from lineal plank stock (if the dimensions work in your favor), but see the first paragraph above.
Yes, TC did use solid Alder on the front baffles of Abby - but:
- they were very carefully laid up
- the rest of the enclosure was a combination of veneered multi-core plywood and particle board
- he'd been in the commercial millwork trade from quite some time before "going pro" with his speakers (kinda knew what he was doing)
look at post 46, p.5. i really like that idea if you can get past the waste. also the slanted panel option rather then the stepped allows for the back panel to be 5' because the slant is or can be 6" up from each end. some of the waste triangle cuts could then be used as support for the missing triangle at the back of the cabinets base.
I've summoned up enough courage to think this project is do-able because its all 90 degree cuts and most of the pieces are 11.75 width.
Looking at the diagonal of the 5x5 to fit in a 6 foot one piece side panel creates terror! But, I see now that it can be cut so that the joint falls across at the same angle of the multi layer top and bottom deflectors. My stomach still turns though.
Bob
Looking at the diagonal of the 5x5 to fit in a 6 foot one piece side panel creates terror! But, I see now that it can be cut so that the joint falls across at the same angle of the multi layer top and bottom deflectors. My stomach still turns though.
Bob
I called a lumber yard in Phoenix AZ and discovered after much insistence that the sales person on the phone please check, he discovered they had 4x8 hard maple 13 ply in stock.
He called it Euro ply. His price of $60 for a 4x8 seems dubious to me since 5x5 Baltic Birch was quoted locally here at $60.
I considered renting a van and driving to Phoenix, 2 hours, to buy the plywood as a viable option.
My guess is that the "sales people" on the phone are more interested in getting off the phone than providing information.
I called around Tucson today and found at least one cabinet maker that didn't seem phased by my request for hard maple 13-15 ply 3/4 in plywood. They are willing to do the cutting. Since they use CNC, I'll find out how much to just cut all of the pieces, guessing the marginal cost low compared to just cutting the sides, back and front baffle.
Does my assumption make sense? If a local cabinet maker can get hard maple plywood 3/4 inch, there has to be at least one source that I can get 4 sheets from?
Thanks
Bob
He called it Euro ply. His price of $60 for a 4x8 seems dubious to me since 5x5 Baltic Birch was quoted locally here at $60.
I considered renting a van and driving to Phoenix, 2 hours, to buy the plywood as a viable option.
My guess is that the "sales people" on the phone are more interested in getting off the phone than providing information.
I called around Tucson today and found at least one cabinet maker that didn't seem phased by my request for hard maple 13-15 ply 3/4 in plywood. They are willing to do the cutting. Since they use CNC, I'll find out how much to just cut all of the pieces, guessing the marginal cost low compared to just cutting the sides, back and front baffle.
Does my assumption make sense? If a local cabinet maker can get hard maple plywood 3/4 inch, there has to be at least one source that I can get 4 sheets from?
Thanks
Bob
Sounds good. And given that the world is still not in the best economic shape thanks to a bunch of greedy idiots in the banks (and politics [will rinse my mouth out later]) I'd be willing to bet he won't charge a fortune for the cutting, because that machine is likely sitting idle a lot of the time.
5X5 here is $60
I feel nice and grouchy.
The villians top of my greedy lying basturd list are CONGres, rating agencies, CONgress, Wall Street, CONGress, mortgauge brokers, CONGress, news broadcasts, CONGress, news papers, did I mention those corrupt thugs of the political gangs that have taken over our country?
Time to change channels and go back to dreaming of audio gear.
Bob
I feel nice and grouchy.
The villians top of my greedy lying basturd list are CONGres, rating agencies, CONgress, Wall Street, CONGress, mortgauge brokers, CONGress, news broadcasts, CONGress, news papers, did I mention those corrupt thugs of the political gangs that have taken over our country?
Time to change channels and go back to dreaming of audio gear.
Bob
hardness is a trixy chap without knowing precisely which species went into the board....as a generality both woods, birch and maple vary in density/hardness between 0.5 and 0.6 grams per cm^3...unless referring to the aus/far east varieties, which are much harder.......
I am guessing but I suspect the main differences will be regarding figuring and colour but I'd love to see some hard maple ply........
don't suppose you have any close up photos of this stuff Bob?
I am guessing but I suspect the main differences will be regarding figuring and colour but I'd love to see some hard maple ply........
don't suppose you have any close up photos of this stuff Bob?
My local Lowes Home Improvement store has oak plywood at $40 per 4x8 sheet.
A 4x8 will fit in the back seat of my Kia Rio if I have them cut it into 4 2x4 sheets first.
I need to go out and re-count the number of plys buy I think it's either 11 or 13.
The stuff is dense and heavy as all get out.
Quite a bit heavier per sheet than the birch plywood they had for the same price.
-Josh
A 4x8 will fit in the back seat of my Kia Rio if I have them cut it into 4 2x4 sheets first.
I need to go out and re-count the number of plys buy I think it's either 11 or 13.
The stuff is dense and heavy as all get out.
Quite a bit heavier per sheet than the birch plywood they had for the same price.
-Josh
True,
Not much of a test but when I picked up one corner of the sheets on display the oak had less flex than the birch.
I don't even know if I'll be building any speaker cabinets out of this anyways.
I actually bought the sheet to make a high chair for my 11 month old boy.
I'll probably make some radial/hyperbolic horns out of it though.
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